Ageism is well and active on the Oakley City Council dais.
During a debate for salary increases for Oakley City Council members, Councilmember Shaw said she did not want to see five council members living off their retirements on the dais. Shaw said Oakley needed youthful council members to enhance the community’s vitality. Shaw indicated the only way that would happen is if the council raised the stipends for council members.
Shaw implicated that unless the council enticed youth to the dais by paying them more money, the city would stagnate, fail to grow, and not enhance economic activity.
Let us see. I am living off my retirement. When my son, Daniel, drowned a little over ten years ago, in large part because of his disability, I wanted to create an ongoing tribute to him. I founded a non-profit organization to assist disabled postsecondary students in navigating the college campus. In doing so, I returned to school (University of San Francisco), earning a Doctor of Education in Special Education after seven years of intensive schooling. In the process, the citizens of Oakley elected me to the city council. I am now in the process of having the non-profit become operational.
I surmise that in Shaw’s perception, I should not be doing so because I am living on my retirement; thus, I do not have the physical or cognitive ability to complete the tasks at hand professionally.
I am an OG, as the saying goes. I guess my title is DrOG.
I invite others living off their retirements to add stories of their lives to this post.
I have provided a link to the council debate regarding council member salary increases. Councilmember Shaw says she does not want five people sitting on the Oakley dais living off their pensions.
George Fuller, Ed.D.
City Councilmember, City of Oakley, CA